New American Oil Production to be the Backbone of Success for Exxon

In 2017 Exxon will spend a fourth of its budget on drilling in Texas, new Mexico and North Dakota shale plays according to Bradley Olson at The Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. increasingly appears at the center of a burgeoning global revival after prices rebounded modestly and companies such as Exxon have improved in their ability to profit due to lower costs and feats of engineering.

Yet unlike some peers that plan to keep investment roughly flat in future years, Exxon plans to increase spending to an average of $26 billion a year from 2018 to 2020. The company plans $22 billion in investments this year.

“Our job is to compete and succeed in any market, irrespective of conditions or price,” new Chief Executive Darren Woods said at Exxon’s analyst meeting in New York. It is his first major appearance since taking over for Rex Tillerson, who stepped down to become President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.

“The ultimate prize in the Permian is significant,” he said, noting that the land the company controls in the West Texas and New Mexico oil region may hold the equivalent of as much as 6 billion barrels of oil and natural gas.